High salinity and drought are common environmental problems affecting seed germination and plant growth especially in arid and semi-arid regions. Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) is an oilseed crop rated moderately salt and drought tolerant but it is sensitive at germination and seedling stages. The effect of salt stress (NaCl) and water stress (PEG-6000), using the same osmotic potential (0 to-1.4 MPa), on germination and early seedling growth of sesame genotypes with different color seeds was studied. Germination percentage (GP), germination rate (GR), mean germination time (MGT), root length (RL) and shoot length (SL) were investigated. Drought and salt stresses, seed color and interaction of each stress with seed color had a significant effect on all studied parameters (P < 0.01). Yellow and brown seeds exhibited higher GP and GR and lower MGT than white and black seeds in absence and presence of both stresses. Germination was reduced and delayed by both stresses. However, it continued at all concentrations of NaCl, while it ceased at-1.0 MPa of PEG. Reduction in GP and GR was gradual for yellow and brown seeds and drastic for white and black ones, already from-0.2 MPa of PEG and NaCl. At equivalent osmotic potential, salt stress had a lower inhibitory effect on germination and seedling growth than drought stress. For Moroccan cultivars, having yellow and brown seeds, seedling growth was more affected by both stresses than seed germination, thus RL and SL could be taken as selection criteria for drought and salt tolerance at early growth stages. Sesame cultivars having intermediate seed colors (brown and yellow) could be recommended for moderate saline soils.

Seed oil of current zero erucic-acid germplasm of Ethiopian mustard ( Brassica carinata A. Braun) is characterized by a low concentration of oleic acid and high concentrations of linoleic and linolenic acids. Sources of increased oleic-acid (HO) and reduced linolenic-acid (LL) concentration have been developed separately in high erucic-acid germplasm. The objectives of the present research were to study the inheritance of the HO and LL traits in crosses HO x LL, and to develop HOLL recombinants, both in high erucic-acid and zero erucic-acid backgrounds. The HO mutant N2-3591 (about 20% oleic acid compared to 9% in conventional high erucic-acid materials), was reciprocally crossed with the LL lines N2-4961 and HF-186 (both with about 5% linolenic acid compared to 12% in standard high erucic-acid materials). Increased oleic acid concentration of N2-3591 was found to be controlled by alleles at one locus (Ol), whereas three different loci for reduced linolenic-acid concentration (Ln, Ln1 and Ln2) were identified in N2-4961 and HF-186. Crosses between N2-3591 and N2-4961 generated HOLL recombinants where levels of increased oleic-acid and reduced linolenic-acid were similar to those of the parents. However, a transgressive segregation for oleic acid was observed in crosses between N2-3591 and HF-186, where F(2) seeds with up to 29.7% oleic acid were obtained, in comparison to an upper limit of 25.1% in the N2-3591 parent grown in the same environment. The transgressive increased oleic-acid was expressed in the F(3) generation and was attributed to the presence of a second locus, designated Ol2. The transgressive trait was transferred to the zero erucic-acid line 25X-1, resulting in a zero erucic-acid germplasm with very high oleic-acid concentration (83.9% compared to 32.9% in 25X-1) and low linolenic-acid concentration (5.0% compared to 16% in 25X-1). Additionally, two other lines exhibiting different stable levels of increased oleic-acid (70.7% and 79.5%, respectively) and reduced levels of linolenic-acid (7.5% and 8.7%, respectively) were isolated.

Drought is a major abiotic stress that affects seed germination and plant growth in arid and semi-arid regions. Rapeseed is an oilseed crop adapted to Mediterranean area; however, it is reported that it is sensitive to water stress occurring during seed germination. In this study, we investigated how seed germination and early seedling growth of six rapeseed genotypes were influenced by different water stress levels. In addition to the control (absence of drought stress), three drought levels were simulated using three osmotic potentials of polyethylene glycol (PEG-6000), −9, −10 and −11 bars. A completely randomized design with three replications was used for this experiment. Germination percentage (GP), shoot length (SL), root length (RL), shoot elongation rate (SER) and root elongation rate (RER) were determined to evaluate the genotypes response to PEG-induced drought stress. Results showed drought stress, genotype and interaction stress × genotype had a significant effect on the studied parameters. GP decreased with the increase in stress level. The genotype ‛Nap9’ was the most interesting, having the highest GP values, namely 63.33, 62.67 and 28% under the stress levels −9, −10 and −11 bars, respectively. The genotype ‛H2M-5’, which ranked second with respect to this parameter, was statistically comparable to ‛Nap9’. Also, SL, RL, SER and RER decreased with the increase in drought stress level. However, the studied genotypes reacted differently to various water stress levels. Once again, the genotype ‛H2M-5’ exhibited the highest average RL and RER under all drought levels. Particularly, for severe drought conditions (−11 bars), ‛H2M-5’ had an average RL of 1.54 cm and RER of 0.36 cm/d. Field evaluation under controlled conditions is needed to confirm findings of the present experiment. The mutant ‛H2M-5’ could be a valuable and promising germplasm for developing a performant and adapted variety to be designed for harsh environments particularly characterized by early drought coinciding with germination and seedling growth stages.

Abstract- (control), -3, -5, -7, -9, -11 and -13 bars were performed using polyethylene glycol-6000 (PEG-6000). A completely randomized design with three replications was used for this experiment. Germination percentage (GP), germination rate (GR), mean germination time (MGT), root length (RL) and shoot length (SL

Summary Phytosterol and tocopherol contents and oxidative stability were evaluated from seeds oils of four safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L) varieties originating from Spain (Rancho), India (Sharda) and Morocco (Cartamar and Cartafri), which were cultivated at the experimental station in Oujda (a semi‐arid region of eastern Morocco). Total phytosterols ranged from 3640 to 4140 mg kg−1. GC analysis allowed the identification of nine compounds, of which β‐sitosterol was the major component. Total tocopherols ranged from 461.56 to 499.68 mg kg−1. HPLC analysis allowed the identification of three compounds, α‐tocopherol (99.45%–98.84%), β‐tocopherol (0.94%–0.5%) and γ‐tocopherol (0.21%–0.01%). Oxidative stability study showed that Sharda had the lowest induction period of 2.3 h compared with 7.18, 7 and 6.67 h for Cartafri, Rancho and Cartamar, respectively. Likewise, we established a positive correlation between the oxidative stability and γ‐tocopherol; however, this difference was not significant.